Tag Archive | "National Kidney Foundation"

Richard D. Tompkins, 65 of Cedar Springs, died Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at home surrounded by his family. Mr. Tompkins was born September 11, 1952 in Grand Rapids, Michigan the son of Richard and Barbara (Knoll) Tompkins. He enjoyed gardening, his tractors, hunting in the U.P., and hanging out with his brothers. He loved his grandkids and was known as grandpa candy. Surviving are his wife, Shirley (Miller); children, Brooke Scott & Marshall Dillon, Brian (Kelly) Tompkins, Bridget (Jeff) Johnson; grandchildren, Elly (Cody), Emma, Etta, Nick, JR, Ainsley, Autumn, Peter, Jase, Zach, Gracie, Abby; mother, Barbara Tompkins; sisters, Cheryl (Alfred) Dines, Nancy (Rocke) Pennington, Susie (Tim) Price; brothers, Jim (Patty) Tompkins, Ray (Yukiko) Tompkins, John (Denise) Tompkins; many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father and in-laws, Jarvis and Gladys Miller. The family will greet friends Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until time of service at 1:00 pm at the Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs. Interment Solon Township Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Kidney Foundation.

Robert W. Steele, 70, passed away Sunday, September 6, 2015 at St. Mary’s Mercy Health Center. Mr. Steele was born October 16, 1944 in San Jose, California, the son of William and Ruth (James) Steele. He enjoyed fishing and euchre and spending time with his family and grandchildren. Surviving are his children, Kevin (Christine) Steele, Debbie (Eric) Townes, Thomas Steele & Crystal Wrench, Kyle (Cheryl) Steele, Andrew (Branin) Steele; 12 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; brother, Walt “Butch” (Robbie) Steele; many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Linda in 2013; great-grandson, Jesse Lewis; sister, Luella Bunker; brothers, James, Howard, and Chuck Steele. The family greeted friends Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs. There will be no funeral service. Private family interment Elmwood Cemetery, Cedar Springs. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Kidney Foundation.

Researchers are optimistic that new study pinpointing some of the reasons kidney disease progresses to kidney failure in children could eventually keep many kids off dialysis and transplant lists. Photo credit: Irvin Calicut/Wikimedia Commons.

By Mona Shand, Michigan News Connection

New hope is on the horizon for children suffering from chronic kidney disease, thanks to the results of a study that, for the first time, identifies some of the factors that can lead to kidney failure.

Dr. Bradley Warady was the co-principal investigator on the study, which looked at nearly 500 children with chronic kidney disease over 10 years.

Warady says many people don’t realize that kidney disease can have a profound effect on a child’s growth and development.

“Not only can you develop an inability to remove waste products and fluids, but you may be very short, you may have poor nutrition, you may have poor growth,” he explains. “So it impacts the global development of the child.”

Warady adds the risk factors investigators uncovered, including high blood pressure anemia, and protein loss, are treatable, and the hope is that addressing those issues will keep kidney disease from progressing so that children can avoid having to go through dialysis or even transplants.

Warady points out chronic kidney disease is not as common in children as it is in adults, but it can be much more challenging to treat.

He says the good news is that many of the underlying issues investigators uncovered can be successfully managed.

“If we can do that, maybe, I can’t say for sure yet, but maybe we have a chance of altering the progression or the worsening of chronic kidney disease,” he says.

The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, is published in National Kidney Foundation’s American Journal of Kidney Diseases.